Tour de Romandie 2026 preview - Pogacar debuts in his first stage race of the season

The Tour de Romandie is the first of two Swiss WorldTour stage races, taking place in the Romandie region. Romandie is the French-speaking region of Switzerland and is home to the Jura mountains and the Alpine mountain ranges of Western Switzerland.

It is the final WorldTour stage race before the Giro d’Italia, but has also been proven to be an important preparation race for the Tour de France, with four riders winning both races in the same season: Stephen Roche in 1987, Cadel Evans in 2011, Bradley Wiggins in 2012, and Chris Froome in 2013.

Across 78 editions, there have been 64 different winners, with Roche the record holder for most victories with three.

The Swiss stage race has been under threat ahead of the 2026 season, with the race organisers admitting struggles over trying to find a new financial partner. Added to the struggles is the fact that four WorldTour teams, Alpecin-Premier Tech, Decathlon CMA CGM, Lotto-Intermarché and Uno-X Mobility have opted to skip the race.

However, despite the setbacks for the race, the organisers will be buoyed by a strong start list, headlined by none other than the World Champion Tadej Pogačar.

Last year, João Almeida snatched the yellow jersey from Lenny Martinez on the final stage’s individual time trial. It would be the second of three consecutive WorldTour stage races that the Portuguese rider would win in 2025, alongside Itzulia Basque Country and the Tour de Suisse.

Although Almeida isn’t on the start list for 2026, UAE Team Emirates-XRG will have ambitions of defending the yellow jersey, with Pogačar on the start list.

As is tradition, the Tour de Romandie kicks off with a prologue. The 2026 prologue is just 3.2km in length and will be decided in mere minutes after starting from Villars-sur-Glâne. 

The opening road stage is a 171.2km looped stage around Martigny. Three ascents of the category three Côte de la Rasse climb, which is 2.2km at 8.9%, await the riders in the opening half of the stage. More significantly, the second half of the stage features the category one climb to Ovronnaz, which is 8.9km at 9.7%. The climb could split the race, and at the summit, there is 33.8km of descending and flat roads still to cover back to Martigny.

Stage 2 is an attritional 173.1km route to Vucherens. The road is almost always up or down, and the closing kilometres rise to the finish line where the puncheurs could shine. 

Orbe hosts stage 3, and it’s in the final third of the stage where the main challenges present themselves. The category three Oulens-sur-Echallens, which is 4.2km at 3.5%, and is immediately followed by the second category Col Mollendruz, which is 8.9km at 6.2%. With no respite between the two climbs, it will essentially feel like a category one test. The summit is 32.4km from the finish, and the riders will descend their way back to Orbe.

Labelled as the first mountain stage of the race, stage 4 features three ascents of the category one Jaunpass. It’s a vicious 8.1km test with an average gradient of 7.9% and maximum slopes of 12%. The summit is 16.7km from the finish, with another downhill run-in, this time to Charmey.

The final stage could well be the most significant for the GC battle. It’s a tough route throughout, but it culminates with the only summit finish of the race. The summit finish to Leysin will see the final showdown for yellow on its 13.9km slopes that average 6% with a maximum gradient of 12%.

For the first time in his career, Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates-XRG) will line up at the start of the Tour de Romandie, and unsurprisingly, the World Champion is the overwhelming favourite for victory.

While the World Champion has lit up the cycling calendar yet again in 2026, Pogačar is yet to make an appearance at a stage race this season. In fact, this is the latest that Pogačar will ride his first stage race in any season during his professional career, such has been his focus on the Classics.

But make no mistake about it, Pogačar will be more than ready for action in Romandie as his attention now turns solely to preparing to try and win a record-equalling fifth Tour de France. Despite the strong field on the start list, Pogačar will be the man to beat, and if he is beaten, it would be a major surprise. 

Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe have been one of the main players in most races they have started this season, and the Tour de Romandie is expected to be no different. Florian Lipowitz’s (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) form seems to be improving race-by-race, with the German most recently finishing 2nd overall at Itzulia Basque Country behind Paul Seixas. 

With a 3rd place at the Volta a Catalunya a few weeks earlier, Lipowitz will be looking to make it a hat-trick of consecutive WorldTour podiums, which would be a very positive sign ahead of the Tour de France.

Many may also argue that the Tour de Romandie was the race where Lipowitz burst onto the WorldTour season in 2024. The German finished 2nd and 4th on stages, and secured a maiden GC podium, finishing 3rd.

Just like in the Basque Country, Lipowitz will be joined by Primož Roglič (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe). The Slovenian star is a former two-time winner in Romandie, securing the title back-to-back in 2018 and 2019. Roglič was also well placed in the Basque Country, sitting 3rd behind his teammate Lipowitz ahead of the final stage.

While Roglič plummeted down the standings on a rain-soaked final stage, he illustrated that he is still more than capable of featuring towards the sharp end of the GC picture, and alongside Lipowitz could be among the closest challengers to Pogačar.

If two potential podium candidates weren’t enough for the German team, Daniel Felipe Martínez (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe) is also set to feature. The Colombian finished a solid 2nd place at Paris-Nice behind Jonas Vingegaard, and may be relatively fresh as he has only raced once since, finishing 51st at Flèche Wallonne.

Lenny Martinez’s (Bahrain-Victorious) start to the 2026 season has arguably been the best of his career so far. The 22-year-old born climber’s victory on the final stage of Paris-Nice ahead of Jonas Vingegaard, securing 5th overall, seems to have given him a significant confidence boost, and this was illustrated by his 2nd in Catalunya, behind Vingegaard also.

The added incentive for Martinez is that he enjoyed an excellent Romandie twelve months ago, winning stage 4 and moving into the yellow jersey ahead of the final stage. He was denied the GC victory on the final stage’s ITT by João Almedia, having to settle for 2nd, but this near-miss may give Martinez even more hunger to shine again in 2026.

Antonio Tiberi (Bahrain-Victorious) will be looking to bounce back after low-key performances at Tirreno-Adriatico and Itzulia Basque Country. If the Italian can reach the heights of the UAE Tour, which saw him win atop the difficult Jebel Mobrah summit and secure 2nd in the GC, he could be in the podium mix alongside Martinez.

Damiano Caruso (Bahrain-Victorious) is also set to appear in Romandie for the eighth and final time in his career, as he is set to retire at the end of the season. The veteran Italian finished 3rd overall in 2023, and although his recent results suggest he may not be in the GC mix, he can’t be ruled out of a top 10 finish or, at the very least, being key in supporting the ambitions of Martinez and Tiberi.

Oscar Onley (Ineos Grenadiers) may come into the race slightly more under the radar than usual. 

The British rider is still waiting for his first individual win since joining Ineos, having abandoned Paris-Nice, and most recently finishing 12th in Catalunya. 

Onley animated the final stage in Barcelona, attacking on the Montjuic climb, and that was his last race day back at the end of March.

He also admitted to Domestique in February at the Volta ao Algarve that he is taking a steadier approach in his Tour de France preparations in order to be fresh by the time his main goal comes around in July.

Perhaps Romandie will be the race where the 23-year-old makes a big step in his preparations, as he enjoyed success on Swiss soil last season, winning a stage and finishing 3rd overall at the Tour de Suisse.

21-year-old Norwegian Jørgen Nordhagen (Visma | Lease a Bike) looks set to have another GC opportunity after recently finishing 2nd at O Gran Camiño. It will be interesting to see how his recent form translates to a WorldTour race. He already finished 8th at the UAE Tour back in February.

Meanwhile, Valentin Paret-Peintre (Soudal Quick-Step) could also be one to watch. The Frenchman finished 4th in Catalunya, indicating his GC legs are sharp.

Other riders who could feature in the top 10 in the GC include Markel Beloki and Georg Steinhauser (EF Education-EasyPost), George Bennett (NSN), David Gaudu (Groupama-FDJ), Sergio Higuita, Lorenzo Fortunato and Cristian Rodríguez (XDS Astana), Luke Plapp and Mauro Schmid (Jayco AlUla), and Yannis Voisard (Tudor).